


Path to the Sun

by Firekitten



Category: RWBY
Genre: Canon Compliant Drabble Series, M/M, TaiQrow Week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:55:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26243002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firekitten/pseuds/Firekitten
Summary: What’s a bird to do, when he finds himself in love with the sun?All he can do: Fly up and hope his wings will take him to it.
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Taiyang Xiao Long
Comments: 18
Kudos: 30





	1. First Light

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Taiqrow Week 2020. Prompt used was "First Day at Signal".

He fussed with his tie, pulling it tight until it sat at his throat. He cursed at his reflection when he saw it had come out lopsided, _again_.

Alright, he could do this. He was the man who could perform a triple-axle twist with an oversized scythe. Doing a simple Windsor’s knot should be nothing. He undid the tie and went step by step: Cross the big piece over, then curve it around the loop, then cross it around back – no, the front – then up, around, back down, pull the knot, and done!

He groaned. It looked even _worse_.

“Having trouble?”

Qrow looked around, seeing Tai leaning up against the frame of his bedroom door, unable to stop himself from staring. He had always thought the man looked great in his combat gear (dorky cargo shorts included), but in casual dress? He might as well retire and become a model. He was in a sandy brown button up, with a yellow plaid tie that matched the goldenrod shade of his slacks. Completing the picture was a dark brown, leather braided belt and dress shoes that had been specked and shined.

It really was unfair, to have to look at something so gorgeous that he could never have – but when had his life been anything but?

Refusing to dwell, he tugged at the offending tie. “You’d think four years at Beacon would teach me how to do this.”

“It would have, had you actually worn it.” He crossed the room. “May I?”

The idea of the other touching him sent a pleasant thrill through him. He looked away to hide his sudden flush, grumbling, “Knock yourself out.”

A chuckle, and then fingers were undoing his work, leaving trails of fire everywhere he brushed over. “Stubborn.” Tai chastised as he put back together the knot – oh, so it was cross around back – and then tugged until it was snug. He lingered a moment more, smoothing out the wrinkles in his collar before finally pulling back. “There, all done.”

He refused to look up, certain his face was redder than his cape. So, he kept his head down, pulling at the end of the tie. “Thanks.”

“You nervous?”

“Of some noisy brats?” He snorted. He had more important things to occupy his freak outs over. “I think I can handle it.”

“Well, if you get overwhelmed, my classroom is only a few doors down. The kids sometimes try to break new teachers.” At his disgruntled expression, Tai backpedaled, holding up his hands. “Uh, not that you can’t handle that! It’s just, uh...”

He arched a brow. “Gee, I really hope this isn’t how you motivate your students.”

The other man ran a hand along the back of his head, laughing sheepishly. “Sorry, I’m not trying to discourage you.” His gaze drifted to the side, focusing on the random knickknacks laid out on the bookshelf. Things Qrow had collected over the years as a sign of his travels. Tai’s favorite, and where his eyes fell to now, was the smooth, flat turquoise gemstone Qrow’d plucked from the walls of an old mine in Vacuo. It was paler than most other turquoise stones, more of a sky-like shade – which was why Tai admired it so, as it matched their home country, Mistral’s, signature blue.

“Really,” Tai continued on, “I should be thanking you.”

Qrow waved him away, already knowing where this is going. “Come on, not this again. I told you, it’s not a big deal.”

“But it is.” He insisted strongly as he turned back to him. “I know this wasn’t really the career you were hoping for. So, for you to drop all that to come help out…” He dropped a hand on his shoulder. “It really means the world to me Qrow.”

That flustered him right back up again. “Alright, enough with the wishy-washy semantics. I still got to actually make it through the first week, yanno.”

“I’m not too worried about that.” Tai replied. Then, beyond all expectations, he _winked_. “You clean up rather nicely, Mr. Branwen.”

All his typical finesse flew right out the window, leaving him to splutter himself into silence.

Luckily, before he had to figure out how to recover from his mortifying reaction, his semblance decided to do something right for once, as Yang suddenly yelled from down the hall. “Dad I can’t find my left shoe!”

“Ah, fatherhood calls,” Tai joked, before calling back, “Be right there!”

Qrow watched him go, running a hand over his mouth. He found, as he turned back to the mirror, the action had done little to wipe away his smile and absolutely nothing to the warmth in his heart.

Instead, the feeling stayed, any nerves he may have actually had combated by the touch of the sun that carried him through the day.


	2. Take Flight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Qrow confesses to a gravestone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Day 2 of Taiqrow week, prompt used was "Confession"

Dried autumn leaves crunched underfoot as Qrow crossed the mesa to the cliffside. Just shy of where it dropped, stood a flat, square tombstone that had rested there for half a decade now. Already knowing the words upon it, he didn’t bother to read the inscription. Instead, he placed down the white rose he held and sat on the ground.

“Hey Sums. Sorry it’s been so long.” He began. “Been busy, you know? New school year just started up and it’s always a little crazy. Man, can’t believe I’ve been doing this for two years already. Thought I’d be shit at it.” He snorted, remembering the evaluation he sat through just a few days ago. “According to my boss, guess I’m actually one of the favorites. Can’t imagine why.”

He waved a hand, before settling back on his palms. “But, I’m sure you didn’t want to hear me blather on about work. Family’s holding up just fine. Girls just started their own classes. Yang’s wicked smart. She’s reading way above her level, and you should see her with math. She’s doing stuff I can’t even figure out. And she’s eight!” He laughed heartily. “Not sure where she gets all those brains from. Certainly ain’t from my side of the family.”

Somewhere in the woods, there was a sudden, rapid report of a woodpecker’s pecking. He could almost pretend it was Summer’s giggles, bursting out of her just the way they used to.

“And Ruby, heh she’s real full of energy. Hard to keep up with. She was nervous about her first day at ‘Big Kid’ school. Clung to my leg and everything, like I was some sort of life preserver. Hoping she ain’t gonna grow up hiding under a hood like some other fraidy-cat I know.” It was hard to say if the sudden gust that blew a handful of leaves into his face was his semblance or not.

He shook it off, plucking a reddish-orange maple leaf from his shirt collar and spinning it idly on his fingertips. “Tai’s doing real good. Been able to relax more, now that we got all the finances sorted out. And he’s just, happy again. Back to being that usual ray-of-sunshine that I’ve always hated.”

Another breeze picked up, rustling the trees noisily. A distant, angry cry of a starling rose up and faded.

Qrow scoffed, crushing the leaf in his hand, edges crumbling away. “Listen to me, lying to a grave.”

With a sigh, he fell backwards, watching the clouds drift overhead. He reached into his breast pocket, pulling out his flask and took long drink from it.

“Sometimes, I wonder if you’d be mad at me.” He finally braved on. “Here I am, stepping into your life. Raising your girls. Falling for your husband.” He swallowed down another shot. It burned, unpleasant and harsh and not at all like the warmth of Tai’s touch he’d come to crave more than alcohol.

“You know, I thought if I just waited it out, these feelings would go away. But, they’ve only gotten stronger. Worse yet? Now that I’m in so deep, I don’t want it to stop.” Another swig, hasty and frantic like his thoughts. “It’s ridiculous! I know I’m no good for him, not like you were. But, for some crazy reason, I still want to see him happy. Want to _be_ happy with him. And I feel like, if I keep it secret much longer, it’s just gonna explode out of me one day.” He gestured vaguely around, liquid sloshing about. “It’s all mixed up in my head and I don’t know what to do.”

A frustrated huff left him, and then he rested the bottom of the flask against his forehead, the coolness combating the sting in his eyes. “Gods Sums, I wish you were here. Wish that we could talk like this again. You were always good at helping me pull my head out of my ass.” He chuckled bitterly. “A’course, if you were still around, then I guess none of this would matter. You two’d still be together and I wouldn’t have to deal with any of this ‘love’ business.”

He capped his flask back up, dropping it to the forest floor. As he folded his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, he said to no one, “Guess I’m just like Raven after all.”

No one answered and the silence stretched on.

It was hard to say how long he lay there, wallowing in a stupor. It could have been an hour, it could have been minutes. What he did know was the thing that drew him back to awareness was the slightest touch on his nose.

His eyes snapped open, tensing on instinct.

The butterfly that had landed there miraculously did not fly away. In fact, it merely adjusted its tiny legs as it climbed further up his face, stretching its wings until all he could see were its black and yellow stripes. As quickly as the moment happened, it was over, as despite his best efforts to remain still, a muscle in his forehead finally twitched and it took off, coasting through the air as seamlessly as the kite it was shaped like.

Qrow sat up, watching it go. Then, slowly, he turned back to the gravestone.

He’d say it was impossible. But ten years ago, he also would have said the same about magic.

“Know what? Think I’m gonna take that as one of your patented ‘Go talk to him you big, dumb idiot or I’ll come back down here and smite you myself’.” He decided as he pocketed his flask and picked himself up.

As he started back towards the forest, he paused. Added, just in case, “Thanks, Summer.”

He continued on his way, never seeing the way the Tiger Swallowtail butterfly cycled back around, landing delicately upon the rose he had left.


	3. Land Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the cusp of his departure, Qrow has one last thing to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the home stretch! Written for Day 6 of Taiqrow week, prompt used "Rekindling"

He finds Tai out on the porch, lounging with his feet up on the railing and a mug of tea in his hands. The night is surprisingly brisk for August, but despite the crispness in the air, the fireflies were out and dancing around the yard. Zwei, their new puppy, was racing back and forth, trying to catch the bugs between his teeth.

Tai turned from that show to smile at him. “Girls give you any trouble?”

“Well, Ruby tried to speed wash the dishes. Again.” Qrow said as he settled down beside him. “Didn’t work. So I had to make her start over.”

A snort. “Of course she did.”

It had only been a few weeks ago that Ruby had discovered her semblance was super speed, but naturally that had opened a curiosity in what she could accomplish with it. Particularly any chores that could be considered time consuming (which meant, _all of them_ ). They were getting kind of familiar with haphazardly folded clothes and water spots still left on the windows or the car.

Tai said she was being reckless – how would she learn discipline if they didn’t set some rules down? Qrow said she was being experimental – how would she know her limits if she didn’t test them?

They hadn’t yet come to agreement and today, Tai certainly didn’t seem inclined to start the conversation, merely resting further back in the cushions of the porch seat. “Thanks, for doing everything tonight.”

“Don’t get too comfortable with it. This is a birthday exclusive.” He slid closer, resting against his shoulder. “Tomorrow it’s back to the status quo.”

A kiss, featherlight, was pressed against his head. “I know, I know.”

They stayed like that for some time, enjoying the rare bit of calm provided under the light of the broken moon. Nestled together like this, Qrow could almost pretend that things were normal. That next week they’d be starting their classes at Signal together just like they had the past six years now. He could already picture the first day: He’d be improvising his lesson plans, Tai would be sticking to his down to the very letter, and they’d definitely be rushing to the breakroom at lunchtime to sign up for the yearly field trips together (No way they’d let Alma and Stoat get “Grimm Sea Life Studies Down at the Beach” again!).

But this time around, there would be none of that. Because Qrow had finally put in his resignation at Signal and returned his Huntsman status on the mission board back to “On Duty”.

He wouldn’t say he hated his profession as a teacher, but there was no denying he’d begun to feel like he had stagnated in life. Become a useless set piece at the school and even in the house; a decoration that was nice to look at but ultimately unneeded for the day-to-day. Of course, Tai vehemently disagreed with those notions, thinking perhaps he was letting his insecurities get the best of him.

Qrow had no idea how to verbalize to him that he _had_ to be a part of something in which he felt like he was doing the most good. It was the only way he felt right. He needed something bigger, grander, more fulfilling and he certainly wasn’t fulfilling that as an eighth-grade professor.

But his desires had made things a bit rickety between him and Tai. Every time the topic came up, his lover struggled to respect his need to leave while combating the want to keep him close. Safe. Here. Battled against his inhibitions. His fears. Things that had laid in his heart like scars on the skin from previous losses.

In a way, it was comforting, to know he meant that much to Tai. That these four years they’d been together had as great an impact on him as it had for Qrow himself. It was something else, something rich and undefinable, being loved and wanted. To know this would always be his home and the people within would always welcome him.

Which was what led him to say, “I got something for you.”

“Oh?” Tai’s laugh rumbled against his ear. “So you didn’t forget my birthday for the 12th year in a row?”

“I was trying to go for an unlucky 13, thank you very much.” Qrow joked, pulling back to give them space. “Close your eyes and hold out your hands.”

A brow was arched suspiciously, but he straightened up, twisting his body to face him more fully. “I swear, if you put slime in my hands or something…” He murmured as he cupped his hands out and let his eyes fall shut.

“Don’t tempt me.” Qrow joked, aware how tight his voice sounded as his nerves started to get the better of him. He pulled out the trinket from his pocket, where it had been burning a hole all evening, and dropped it in his grasp. Ignored the way his hands started to shake. No turning back now. “Okay, you can look.”

Tai’s eyes opened and he looked down.

A second later, his gaze snapped back to him, shocked. “Qrow, is this-?” He trailed off, staring back down like he couldn’t believe what he was holding.

Laying in the palm of his hand was a necklace. The handmade pendant was the same shape as Tai’s emblem, but, to hold the halves of the heart together, Qrow had crafted a sun in the middle. Embedded in the face of that sun was a piece of the turquoise gemstone that had been sitting on his shelf for so many years now.

Yet, it wasn’t the flare and glitz of the design that captivated Tai so completely.

No, it was the silk blue cord that acted as the chain his eyes were locked onto, his fingers brushing along it like it was delicate as glass.

Delicate, like the question Qrow was truly asking him.

There was an old yet simple legend in Anima, one as ancient as Remnant itself, that told the tale of how the Sky and Sea created the world. It was said that before everything, the planet was nothing but a black husk. There was no light and no color. The dark Sea, growing lonely in its isolation, eventually called into the nothingness. A voice from far, far away, replied. It was the Sky.

Knowing they weren’t alone, they went on a blind journey together, trying to find one another. There were a lot of versions of what followed, tales modified from the story being orated for so long, but it all ended the same way: Eventually, the Sky and Sea fell in love with each other and that powerful emotion drew them together. The moment they touched, they turned blue and the horizon and the continents came to be.

Though centuries had passed and science and understanding of the world had proven such ideas ridiculous, Anima still held tight to their oldest fairytale in ways that could still be felt today. Like having their capital’s signature color be blue and bestowing children with aeronautical and marine-based names.

But the one tradition that stood out above all the rest was the Gift of Blue Thread. It was the act of presenting a lover with an item, typically jewelry, on a piece of blue ribbon. Because, as the saying went:

_Give them something of cerulean thread, like sky and sea you’ll be forever wed._

Qrow felt his throat knot up, and the speech he had practiced got caught in the snare, only a few words from it escaping. “I was thinking, uh, maybe you might want something a bit more permanent, between us.” He paused, dipping his head. Felt his cheeks flare up as he managed to get the sappy sentiment out between his teeth, “So that you know, no matter how dark things get, I’ll always try to find my way back to you.”

A beat.

Then, predictably, Tai was laughing.

He ruffled up instantly. “What’s so funny? I’m being serious!”

“I know.” Arms wound around him, pulling him in until he was practically spilling along his lap. “I’m not laughing at you. I’m just really happy.”

“Then…” Qrow murmured where his face was buried against his neck, “It’s a yes?”

With as much gentleness as he had the necklace, Tai caressed his fingers along his face, down along his cheek and his jawline, before cupping his chin and pulling him free of his hiding spot.

He stared into blue, blue eyes as Tai lent close, whispering, “I can’t think of anything I’d want more than you.”

When their lips finally touched, Qrow swore he felt the start of their own world together.


End file.
